MALIK MANZOOR
manzoormalik3@gmail.com
Children are the hope of parents. They are the fruit every couple wishes to bloom in its garden. However, in stressful circumstances, the upbringing of children has become a tough job. Fear and care go on now side by side.
Stress and tension among young children and adults are common concerns in the valley. It is the stress that leads to extreme steps like suicides by many. Though It is a common concern still no effective measures are taken to stop the growing percentile of this fatal trend. A sharp rise has been observed in the number of heart attacks among youth. However, the number doesn’t include rural cases where teenagers die all of a sudden that too on the spot. Such cases are not registered anywhere by anyone.
Depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among teenagers and suicide is another leading cause of death in youth aged 15–19 years. Mental health conditions account for more than 15 percent of the entire burden of disease and injury in adolescents aged 10–19 years. Half of all mental health disorders in adulthood start by age above 12, but most cases are undetected and untreated.
Now the question arises that how can we tackle this problem and treat the stress so that our young generation is kept safe and sound
There are numerous ways to tackle this life-consuming threat, like guidance and counseling, motivation and explanations, tours and trekking, love and affection. But the most effective and efficient way is to promote different types of games and athletics at district, tehsil, block, and village levels. In villages, there are fewer playgrounds and recreational places as compared to cities and towns as a result young boys and girls find no means to channel their energy.
Co-curricular athletics encourage the growth of various realms of mind and individuality such as intellectual growth, sentimental development, social development, ethical development, and aesthetic development. Creativity, Enthusiasm, and Energetic, Positive Thinking are some of the facets of personality development and the outcomes of curricular activities
So the first and the foremost thing is to make playgrounds in every village and town which is still a dream in many villages.
After constructing grounds and play fields, it is necessary to introduce different formats of various games and organize various tournaments to attract young folk. This systematic and properly organized fervor of games would keep these young people busy and occupied.
Physical activity provides fundamental health benefits for adolescents, including improved cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone health, maintenance of healthy body weight, and psychosocial benefits.
To increase activity levels, administration, society, and community need to create safe and enabling environments and opportunities for physical activity for all adolescents
Cricket is the only game that people in every nook and corner of J &K know and play. So it is inevitable to promote other games like football, kabaddi, hockey, tennis, table tennis, wrestling, basketball, etc. Department of physical education has to take the responsibility seriously and make sincere efforts to involve more and more boys and girls in various games so that their energy is channelized positively. Games are health-oriented and joyful activities. They are effective therapies that reduce tensions and apprehensions. In Kashmir, sports can do miracles and bring peace of mind not only among young boys and girls but also among parents who are afraid of the wrong behavior of their children.
Games strongly tame thoughts and stabilize emotions and imbue a sense of cooperation among teenagers, hence games ensue discipline permanently. Parents should allow and motivate them to play games. They should encourage and appreciate their participation in the games so that they might not indulge in any type of crimes and addictions. Drug abuse is one of the growing crimes that consumes and destroys the happy lives of teenagers and their parents as well. Strict and hard conduct is also harmful and detrimental. Parents should abstain from this practice. Schooling and sports should go side by side. Emphasis on academics at the cost of co-curricular activities is never a healthy practice. Parents should allow, rather advise their children to take part in games and sports on a routine basis so that their motor and mental development go simultaneously. Someone has rightly quoted that sound minds live in sound bodies. World Health Organisation proposes for adolescents to amass at least one hour of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity daily, which may include play, games, sports, and also an activity for transportation such as cycling, races, and walking.
Globally, only 1 in 5 adolescents is estimated to meet these guidelines. Prevalence of inactivity is high across all the regions and higher in female adolescents as compared to male adolescents. Separate grounds for girls should be constructed in every village. Parents should take note of the harmful effects of inactivity among girls. It is because of this inactivity their energy is not channelized properly as a result many unethical influences take root.
Parents and teachers should encourage co-curricular activities like sports, debate, Art, drama, and discussion, declamation contest, story writing competition, essay writing competition, art & craft, recitation competition, wall magazine decoration, write-ups for the school magazine, folk songs, folk dance, flower show, school decoration, sculpture making, fancy dress competition, preparation of chart & models, album making, photography, clay modelling, and many such activities.
To a great extent, academic proficiency gets consolidated when an applicable co-curricular activity is organized related to the theme taught in the classroom. Intellectual facets of personality are attained in classroom, while aesthetic development, character building, spiritual growth, physical growth, moral values, creativity, etc. are supported by co-curricular activities. Language and personality are supported by these activities. It supports improving coordination, adjustment, speech fluency, extempore expressions, etc. among students both at the school as well as college levels.